On July 12th, Nasa unveiled the first 5 breath taking images of 10 billion dollar telescope. Similar to how the Hubble telescope revolutionized the field of a astronomy, The JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) will allow astronomers to observe the very first galaxies formed at the creation of the universe. Below is one of the images taken by JWST.
Marcia Rieke, the chief scientist for one of the telescope’s main instruments, was allowed to view the images early in order to create a brief presentation to help interpret them. She mentions,
Now that we have the image, we go through the process of measuring, quantitatively, how bright every spot is with every filter that you measured with…Then you can get an instant estimate of how far away that galaxy is.
By analyzing these distant galaxies, astronomers can learn more about the lifecycle of stars, the atmospheres of exoplanets, and the birth of the known universe. Not only are these images stunning, they will revolutionize the way scientists interpret and learn about the far reaching corners of space.
Different instruments of the JWST can help analyze different parts of galaxies. For example, what different elements make up those galaxies or are there any vital elements that have yet to form? Rieke believes this is the start of paying back the money that went into JWST. In addition she mentions,
For pragmatists, one might think, O.K., Webb can study exoplanets in great detail…We can, for example, look for evidence of climate change on an exoplanet and study that, since we don’t have other examples in our solar system where we can look at the effects of carbon dioxide and other gases
With the ability to study important issues such as climate change, it will allow scientists and engineers here on earth to see the affects of certain gasses such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. With this knowledge, we can proceed to tackle the obstacle of renewable energy and begin unraveling a solution to global warming. This is start of understanding the universe and the fundamentals that explain how it works.
